August Frugaleers Part II

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Thought I would start a new one since the old one is full!

Omg I'm miles behind!! Have read back, but am sure to forget something!

lilac what a lovely electricity bill! I want to start building up a credit with that, as its coming as a big hit every second month. The gas comes at the same time, so that can be €300 between the two some months.

spotty that job sounds terrific! Best of luck with it!!

collie hope you feel better today! I absolutely hate doing painting at home. Mine are 3.5 and 8. We play with glitter glue pens, sequins, wool, pom poms etc, it's surprisingly easier to clean! Ds 1 isn't fussed but ds 2 adores it.

Last day of summer holidays for ds 1! Will go out for cake this afternoon as a last treat, so budgeting €10 for that. Shouldn't have any other spends.
I'm sad that the children will be gone but I'm looking forward to having a routine and know it will be better for my frugaleering, not having to entertain them every day. Got paid last Friday and there's already a big chunk gone.

Ipsos, you are so right! I am always telling people that smoothies are just sugary drinks that have low nutritional value due to the lack of fibre. Porridge with frozen berries will be a better option and I can use full fat milk to increase the value to me.

Just spent £56 in Sainsburys but had an £8 off voucher so actual spend was £48 feeling pleased with that as got lots and hoping should have enough food to keep us going for 2 weeks.....

I bought some wraps as an alternative to bread/sandwiches but when got them home read on them they are meant to be heated up I thought you got just eat them cold? Does anyone have any good suggestions for wrap fillings? I can think of chicken or tuna!!

I'm still reading throught the thread.
In september I'm starting a first proper job, so have been spending lots on the equipment etc I need, moved across the country, so new (first) flat, got some furniture (most of it second hand), lots of signing up for insurance etc

So now my bank balance is lower than it has been in years and I won't get paid untill the very end of September. Plus I've picked up bad habits of spending over the summer (books, nice foody bits etc).

I'm having trouble with the budget, because I just don't know lots of the outgoings.

On the plus side, I don't expect to spend anything today.

rivier sounds exciting & worrying too. start fresh from October. I think I've picked some bad summer habits too

DS is refusing sensible food. He's had cereal, homemade flapjack & a biscuit today. I just gave him an apple. The fuss bum! Worried about the lack of useful nutrients

NSD today. looks like it'll rain again

ipsos that's very interesting, definitely going to order that book tomo. Although I ordered the hormone reset diet book after reading an article that screamed out this is me at me and never got around to reading it, the wheatbelly seems more simplistic though. Our plan encourages wholegrains to keep you fuller for longer so maybe it is something that has become an issue for me. Were you overweight when you started following it or just a bit lethargic?

what I'm a big fan of eating your fruit not drinking it because you're flooding your system with sugar when having smoothies, juicing veg isn't as severe.

rivierliedje maybe if you gave us details about size of flat, type of heating etc we might be able to help you budget a little? The fact that you are thinking about it is a great start.

Finally managed to catch up, looks like you all have been super busy
We finally had some sunshine this morning so I put the washing out and just had to run out with dc to take it back in during a rather heavy shower and now the sun is back again, I wish the weather would make its mind up
girlfriend36 you can eat them hot or cold after all if you buy ready made one they are always cold, my dc like ham and cheese quesadillas - I just spread a wrap with ketchup, top it up with ham and cheese, put another on top and then cook it in the dry pan for couple minutes on each side.
Here are some other recipes allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/tag-756/wrap-recipes.aspx

It's been quite a good weather week here so I've managed to get up to date with washing post holiday (all line dried).

Still having to boil our drinking water though, that's 3 weeks now with still no word as to when it might be sorted. Not very impressive for a big company that makes millions in profit every year.

NSD here again today.

I have literally been doing just that from the day I had my ds in Nov 13, bar occasions where I'd eat cake or dessert etc or maybe once a month have an alcoholic drink. I watch everything I eat as it's my duty to live as I preach but it's so frustrating! I've been blaming hormones as had implant in, removed that didn't solve the problem, did away with nuvaring now too so hoping that will help, wheatfree is worth a try too

I don't eat potatoes though so would be just rice I guess then, rye crackers, oats, rice noodles are presumably ok too?

You can make a delicious mexican style lasagne with wraps girlie too

€5.73 on WheatBelly!

Ipsos Sounds like a good job opportunity!

Lila Thanks, it's about 50 m²: kitchen, living room, tiny bathroom, bedroom and box room. The building is old, but everything in the flat is brand new (new kitchen, new windows, new bathroom, new eco-boiler). Heating is gas. So is the oven (I think?) but the stove is one of those flat glass black ones. The fridge freezer has an A+ sticker on it. All the taps are of the sort that mix air in with the water. And the toilet has a watersaving flush thing. (I obviously know all the technical terms ).

ipsos sounds good, well done.

ohhelp will be checking that out, thank you.

NSD today for me!

I gave up wheat a while ago, it worked wonders for my digestive system, I can't remember why i stopped. I ate a lot of meringues for desserts!

I don't have wheat, I will tonight because of carb cravings but I low carb most of the time with no digestive problems. I think one of the Scandinavian countries has started to advise it's populace to low carb and load up on fat instead. We wouldn't have evolved eating most of the carbs like wheat, potatoes, rice or maize because they either weren't around or they needed processing beyond our capabilities. Fruit was seasonal so July-Sept?.

Apparently liver is a good source of vitamin c and we would have had access to that.

Butchers

Do a test shop, mine slaughters on site one animal at a time (except chickens, he buys them in) and doesn't add water to the meat. I'm going to do a muscle food order when I have the cash just to see what it's like.

Where is the best place to get ladies tights that don't shrink and fall down? I'm happy to spend the money if it means I'll actually wear them & they'll last.

I saw the posts about school tights and it reminded me of my Great Tight Disaster of AW 2014. I wasted so much money. I'm too bloated to wear jeans so I can only wear dresses. I wear leggings too! But I like to mix it up if I can. My boots look weird with leggings.

Logging in as seem to have done rather a lot of spending this afternoon

Right so on the plus side paid a cheque in for £84 from cat insurance people.

Then spent

£1.50 on 4 avocados (me and dd love them!)
£2.50 in Poundstretchers on pack lunch bits and squash
£3 in Poundland, I got 500 sandwich bags for £1 plus some chocolate and biscuits

Went into Accessorise to see if there was anything left in the sale and got 3 pairs of gloves which had been reduced to £3.60, I thought I will keep one pair and the two other pairs will be Christmas/Birthday gifts. A really nice scarf which had been reduced to £6 for my friends bday next week and some sunglasses reduced to £4.50, total spend £21.30 but am happy with what I got for that.

Another £23 in Boots on various make up and toiletries, some of that was BOGOF offers or reduced, should last a while.

Also £4 on tea and cake plus £4 ish on parking

Oh well, next few days should be LSD or NSD, although do need to get dd a new school sweatshirt at some point

Collie Marks is the best place for tights ime, that goes for childrens tights as well. My dd won't wear tights, she will occasionally wear footless tights though. I find these better value as they last longer and take longer to grow out of! Primark did do some grey/black footless tights which are o.kay for school as well (this was last year.)